Ruapehu volcano – latest eruption : 2007
Ruapehu, one of New Zealand’s most active volcanoes, is a complex stratovolcano constructed during at least 4 cone-building episodes dating back to about 200,000 years ago. The 110 cu km dominantly andesitic volcanic massif is elongated in a NNE-SSW direction and is surrounded by another 100 cu km ring plain of volcaniclastic debris, including the Murimoto debris-avalanche deposit on the NW flank. A series of subplinian eruptions took place at Ruapehu between about 22,600 and 10,000 years ago, but pyroclastic flows have been infrequent at Ruapehu. A single historically active vent, Crater Lake, is located in the broad summit region, but at least five other vents on the summit and flank have been active during the Holocene. Frequent mild-to-moderate explosive eruptions have occurred in historical time from the Crater Lake vent, and tephra characteristics suggest that the crater lake may have formed as early as 3000 years ago. Lahars produced by phreatic eruptions from the summit crater lake are a hazard to a ski area on the upper flanks and to lower river valleys.
(some text & images : Smithsonian Institution)

Taranaki volcano (Mount Egmont) – latestÂ eruption : 1854
The nearly symmetrical, steep-sided cone of Taranaki (also known as Egmont), is New Zealand’s largest andesitic stratovolcano. Taranaki is surrounded by a ring plain of debris-avalanche and lahar deposits that and extend to the coast. The isolated Taranaki volcanic center is located on the west coast of central North Island at the southern end of a volcanic arc extending NW along the Northland Peninsula. Taranaki is the youngest and SE-most of a group of three volcanoes beginning with the Pleistocene Kaitoke Range. Fanthams Peak breaks the symmetry of Taranaki on its south flank, and four lava domes are located on the lower north and south flanks. Multiple episodes of edifice collapse have occurred in the past 50,000 years. Explosive activity, sometimes accompanied by pyroclastic flows and lava dome growth, has occurred frequently throughout the Holocene. Taranaki’s latest eruption took place in 1854 AD.
(some text & images : Smithsonian Institution)

Okataina volcano – latest activity : 1981
The massive, dominantly rhyolitic Okataina Volcanic Centre is surrounded by extensive ignimbrite and pyroclastic sheets produced during multiple caldera-forming eruptions. Numerous lava domes and craters erupted from two subparallel NE-SW-trending vent lineations form the Haroharo and Tarawera volcanic complexes. Lava domes of the Haroharo complex, at the northern end of the Okataina Volcanic Centre, occupy part of the 16 x 26 km Pleistocene Haroharo caldera, which formed incrementally between 300,000 and 50,000 years before present (BP). The oldest exposed rocks on the caldera floor are about 22,000 years old. The Tarawera complex at the southern end of Okataina consists of 11 rhyolitic lava domes and associated lava flows. The oldest domes were formed as late as about 15,000 years BP, and the youngest were formed in the Kaharoa eruption about 800 years BP. The NE-SW Tarawera vent lineation extends from the two dacitic cones of Maungaongaonga and Mangakakaramea on the SW to Mount Edgecumbe on the NE. Construction of the Haroharo and Tarawera complexes impounded lakes Rotoiti, Totoehu, Okataina, and Tarawera against the outer margins of the Okataina ring structure. A major hydrothermal area is located at Waimangu; the world-renowned Pink and White Terrace siliceous sinter deposits were destroyed during the major basaltic explosive eruption of 1886.
(some text & images : Smithsonian Institution)

Tongariro volcano – latest activity : 2006 – latest eruption : 1977
Tongariro is a large andesitic volcanic massif, located immediately NE of Ruapehu volcano, that is composed of more than a dozen composite cones constructed over a period of 275,000 years. Vents along a NE-trending zone extending from Saddle Cone (below Ruapehu volcano) to Te Mari crater (including vents at the present-day location of Ngauruhoe) were active during a several hundred year long period around 10,000 years ago, producing the largest known eruptions at the Tongariro complex during the Holocene. North Crater stratovolcano, one of the largest features of the massif, is truncated by a broad, shallow crater filled by a solidified lava lake that is cut on the NW side by a small explosion crater. The youngest cone of the complex, Ngauruhoe, has grown to become the highest peak of the massif since its birth about 2500 years ago. The symmetrical, steep-sided Ngauruhoe, along with its neighbor Ruapehu to the south, have been New Zealand’s most active volcanoes during historical time.
(some text & images : Smithsonian Institution)

White Island volcano – latest eruption : 2001
Uninhabited 2 x 2.4 km White Island, one of New Zealand’s most active volcanoes, is the emergent summit of a 16 x 18 km submarine volcano in the Bay of Plenty about 50 km offshore of North Island. The 321-m-high island consists of two overlapping andesitic-to-dacitic stratovolcanoes; the summit crater appears to be breached to the SE because the shoreline corresponds to the level of several notches in the SE crater wall. Volckner Rocks, four sea stacks that are remnants of a lava dome, lie 5 km NNE of White Island. Intermittent moderate phreatomagmatic and strombolian eruptions have occurred at White Island throughout the short historical period beginning in 1826, but its activity also forms a prominent part of Maori legends. Formation of many new vents during the 19th and 20th centuries has produced rapid changes in crater floor topography. Collapse of the crater wall in 1914 produced a debris avalanche that buried buildings and workers at a sulfur-mining project.
(some text & images : Smithsonian Institution)

The selection of a weak Magnitude, a 24 hour delivery on a worldwide list would result in an avalanche of emails (each earthquake will generate an E-mail). A more selective Magnitude, delivery option and area of your interest will give the best result.

As we have decided not to use a control panel or password, the parameters of your subscription can only be changed by canceling your subscription (link in each Email we send). To fine-tune your options, simply generate a new subscription.

We will not share your E-mail with anyone else, it will be used only for earthquake alerts.

Please make sure that you are white listing our emails as otherwise they may be deviated to your spam folder.

Delivery frequency

E-mails start at Magnitude

Enter your email address:

SHARE YOUR EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE WITH USPlease enable javascript in your browser in order to submit this form.

People :Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.Fittings :Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.Structures :Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.

People :Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.Fittings :Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.Structures :Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.

People
Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.Fittings :Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).Structures :Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.Environment :Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.

PeopleGeneral alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.Fittings :Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.Structures :Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.Environment :Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).

Structures
Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames.
Environment :
Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.

Write your experience below + let us know if your property has been damaged (even slight damage) or if you have knowledge of any damage caused by this earthquake. (max. 500 characters)